
(lass 

Book 



WASHINGTON 



ADAPTED FOR A CRISIS. 



AN ADDRESS BEFORE THE 



MINNESOTA OOMMANDERY 



OF THE MILITARY ORDER OF THE 



THE NEW YORK 

PUBLIC LIBRARY 

p • - 

ASTOf, lcnox *nd 

T1LDE-N FOUNDATIONS. 

L-, am* 

Cos 



LOYAL LEGION OF THE UNITED STATES, 



IN HALL OF THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, STATE CAPITOL, ST. PAUL 



FEBRUARY 22, 1889. 



BY 

EDWARD D. NEILL, D.D., 

Late Chaplain First Minnesota Infantry, U. S. Vols, 



ST. PAUL, MINN.: 

The Pioneer Press Company 

1889. 

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^Springfield City L 



.Ltef 1 



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At»CW»^>M©X AND 
TILDC* FuUimOaTIONS, 



WASHINGTON 

Adapted for a Crisis. 



A grand face in the painting of an "old master" is sometimes ob- 
scured by the halo with which the artist has encircled the head. The 
effort at exaltation has proved a deterioration. Excessive adulation 
of Washington at the beginning of the present century lifted him, as 
the Greeks did their heroes, into the clouds; and the apotheosis dis- 
torted him into a prodigy, and detracted from his real greatness. 

Fontanes, in an oration before Napoleon and the civic and military 
authorities of Paris, under a misconception, spoke of him as "born in 
opulence, which he largely increased." If he had been cradled in 
luxury the anniversary of his birth would nott b& celebrated; "jo-diay 
in the great republic which extends from the A'tlantfO'to ihe 'Pacific 
ocean, and from the Lake of the Woods to the Gr.uJf.of Mexico,. , His, 
birthplace was in a house of few rooms, with novsvfterfluQU^.fv^njtiure, . 
and as plain in its surroundings as the homes of some of the early 
settlers of Minnesota. When he was eleven years of age his mother 
was a widow, and his education was chiefly obtained from an accom- 
plished convict who had been transported and sold for a servant. 1 
His first ancestors in Virginia made no pretensions. All that Wash- 
ington knew of his English relatives was that they lived in one of the 
northern counties of England, and he would have been astonished at 

1. The learned clergyman, Jonathan Boucher, who was the private tutor of Washington's step- 
son, in his autobiography, portions of which have been published in London Notes and Queries, 
writes as follows: "Mr. Washington was the second of five sons, of parents distinguished neither 
for their rank nor their fortune. Lawrence, their eldest son, became a soldier and went on the ex- 
pedition to Carthagena, when, getting into some scrape with a brother officer, it. was said he did not 
acquit himself quite so well as he ought and sold out. 

"George, who like most people thereabouts at that time, had no other education than reading, writ- 
ing and accounts which he was taught by a convict servant." 



the positive but mythical declarations of some modern historians that 
the emigrant head of his family, was a brother of Sir Henry Wash- 
ington, a friend of Charles the First. 1 His mother was poor, and 
anxious for his welfare. The country was sparsely settled; there 
were no large stores where clerks were employed ; no populous towns; 
for Virginia planters purchased their supplies in England, which were 
brought to their landings by the same vessels which carried away 
their tobacco. At one time she thought her son might become one of 
those who "go down to the sea in ships, and that do business in great 
waters;" but her brother, hearing of her design, wrote: "I under- 
stand you are advised and have some thoughts of putting your son to 
sea. I think he had better be apprenticed to a trade, for a common 
sailor before the mast has by no means the common liberty. They 
will press him from a ship where he has fifty shillings and make 
him take twenty -three and cut or treat him like a negro or a. dog." 2 
Fortunately, his boyhood was under the general supervision of 
William Fairfax, who, when a young man, had struggled with limited 
means, and after an eventful career was collector of customs at 
Salem, Mass., and in that Puritan town had married a fine woman. 3 
When this man came to Virginia to live his son became Washington's 
friend and associate, and with him when he was only sixteen years of 
age fe| made his- first surveying expedition. 

1 * Before' Washington attained to manhood he exhibited strong char- 
acteristics 1 . Beneath, great reserve was hidden tender emotions and 
a fiery temper While unobtrusive, when there was necessity he dis- 
played decision. He had no adaptation for boon companionship with 
the dissolute sons of planters at a wayside tavern, but enjoyed the 
company of refined women. Before he was twenty years of age 
Tupid pierced his heai't with an arrow, but he was not accepted by 



1. J. L. Chester, D.C.L., LL.D., the careful aunotator of the Westminster Abbey Regist 
passed the last twenty years of his life in trying to find the place in England from which the fi 
Virginia Washington emigrated, and failed. 

John Washington, the great-grandfather of the general, came to Virginia about 1658 and broug 
with him a wife and two children. He married, after his first wife's death, the widow of Walti 
Brodhurst, whose maiden name was Anne Pope. Her son Lawrence became the grandfather ■ 
George Washington. 

2. Bishop Meade's " Old Parishes of Virginia." 

3. William Fairfax was collector of Salem, Mass., from 1728 to 1733, and his last wife was Deborah, 
the daughter of John Clark, of that town.— X. E. Hist. Regiiier, 1877. 



the fair one. 1 During the French war, while in the field, he wrote 
to another "that he would be happy if he thought he could ever play 
Juba to Marcia," in Addison's play of Cato.' 

The object of this address is simply to show the wonderful adapta- 
tion of Washington to critical periods. By the time he was twenty- 



1. A few years ago Gov. Fitzhugh Lee, of Virginia, published the following letter to William 
Fauntleroy : (The spelling is preserved.) 

" May 20, 1752. 
"Sir: I should have been down long before this, but my business in Frederick detained me some- 
what longer than I expected and immediately upon my return from thence I was taken with a vio- 
lent pleurise which has reduced me very low, but purpose as soon as I recover my strength, to wait 
on Miss Betsy in hopes of a revocation of the former cruel sentence and see if I can meet with any 
alteration in my favor. I have inclosed a letter to her, which should be much obliged to you for the 
delivery of it. I have nothing to add but my best respects to your good lady and family and last I 
am sir, Your most obedient, humble servant, 

G. Washington." 

2. Washington had known the widow Custis before he went to the French and Indian war, but there 
was a Mary Cary, whom he would have married if her father had been willing. H« sister Sarah 
had married his associate, George W. Fairfax. To Mrs Fairfax he avows his love for her sister in a 
letter from camp, at Cumberland, dated twelfth September, 1758. En it he writes: " If you allow that 
any honor can be derived from my opposition to our present system of management, you destroy the 
merit of it entirely in me by attributing my anxiety to the animating prospects of possessing Mrs- 
Custis, whom I need not name, guess yourself, should not my honor and the country's welfare be the 
excitement? 

" ' Tis true, I profess myself a votary of love. I acknowledge that a lady is in the case, and further, 
I confess the lady is known to you. Yes, madam, as well as she is to one who is too sensible of her 
charms to deny the power, whose influence he feels, and must ever submit to. I feel the force of her 
amiable beauty in the recollection of a thousand tender passages." 

Soon after this he received a letter from Mrs. George Fairfax's sister Mary and on the twenty-fifth 
of September he replied, and after giving the army news and the death in battie of some officers she 
knew, he continues: "Thus it is' the lives of the brave are often disposed of; but who is there that 
does not rather envy than regret a death that gives birth to honor and glorious memory! * * * 
I should think our time more agreeably spent, believe me, in playing a part in Cato with the 
company you mention, and myself doubly happy in being the Juba to such a Marcia as you must 
make." 

Mary Cary's father did not wish her to marry a poor man. He was like ( !ato it) Addison's tragedy, 
and she an obedient Marcia. 

" While Cato lives, his daughter has no right to love or hate, but as his choice directs." 

Many passages in the play are exceedingly appropriate to one in Washington's situation. Juba, 
a Roman military officer, falls in battle — Act IV., Scene 3d. 

Marcia — Why do I think on what he was ? He's dead ! He's dead, and never knew how much I 
loved him. 

juba— Where am I? do I live, or am indeed what Marcia thinks? All is Elysium around me. 

Marcia — Ye dear remains of the most loved of men! 
Nor modesty nor virtue here forbid 
A last embrace, while they — 

Juba — See, Marcia ! See ! 

The happy Juba lives ! He lives to catch 
That dear embrace, an i to return it too, 
With wonted warmth and eagerness of love. 



one years of age he had inspired such confidence in the governor 
of Virginia that he was selected to bear an important letter to the 
commander of the French posts on the tributaries of the Ohio river. 
While he was preparing for his journey the then commander, Pierre 
Paul Marin, was expiring; and when he arrived at the post on French 
creek, not far from Lake Erie, he found a new officer, Legardeur Saint 
Pierre. Both of these were natives of Canada, knew nothing of the 
splendor of Paris, had passed their lives among Indians, and each had 
for a time lived at the post on the shores of Lake Pepin, opposite 
Maiden's Pock. 1 Washington's visit removed all doubt as to the in- 
tention of France to establish a cordon of posts to prevent English 
immigration. The report of the exploration increased confidence in 
his good judgment, and the next May he was in command of an ad- 
vance party to prevent aggression. 

At this period he first manifested the decision which fitted him for 
leadership in a critical era. The captain of an independent company 
attached to his force held a commission in the British army, while 
his was only from the governor of Virginia, with less pay. The regu- 
lar officer was a martinet, and assumed superiority. His course was 
such that discontent pervaded the camp, and Washington wrote to 
the governor " that if he could not have the same emolument as of- 
ficers of the same rank from Great Britain he would not resign in the 
face of the enemy, but would serve as a volunteer; for as my services 
as far as I have knowledge will equal with those of the best officers, 
I make it a point of honor not to serve for less." 2 

After this campaign Great Britain was convinced that some of the 
best troops must be sent over to protect the frontier, and Edward 
Braddock was designated as commander-in-chief of his majesty's 
forces in North America. About the first of March, 1755, he landed 
at Hampton, and from thence rode up to the capitol of Virginia to 
visit Gov. Dinwiddie. 



1. Peter Paul Marin was born March 19, 1692, and in 1718 was married to Marie Guyon. In 1749 
he was in charge of the French post at Frontenac, Minn., on the shores of Lake Pepin opposite Maid- 
en's Rock. Hedied at the post on French creek, near Erie, Pa., en the twenty-ninth of October, 17-53, 
and was buried there. In a few days Legardeur Saint Pierre assumed command. He was the son 
of Paul Legnrdeur, and was born in 1701. His grandfather married Marguerite, daughter of Jean 
Nicolet, who, in 1634, was the first white man to visit Greeu Bay, Wis. He was in command on the 
shores of Lake Pepin, Minn., 1735 to 1737. 

2. Dinwiddie Papers— vol. Ill, Virginia Hist. Col., pp. 17*, 179. 



Williamsburg at this period contained about eight hundred people, 
including negroes. A broad street extended through the town, with 
the college of William and Mary at one extremity and the capitol at 
the other. Not more than ten or twelve families had any education, 
and the rest were illiterate artisans or small traders living in poor 
houses. It was only during court week or a session of the legislature 
that the streets contained carriages of every kind the worse for use 
and lack of varnish, drawn by horses seldom of the same color, with 
African coachmen as ragged as beggars, containing the ladies from 
the surrounding plantations. 

Never before had been greater excitement than on the day when 
Gen. Braddock and staff rode through the little town to the gov- 
ernor's residence. A few days later, Braddock was at a dinner party 
given by St. Clair, his quartermaster general, and among the guests 
was the shy and silent Washington; but by his bearing and conver- 
sation he attracted the general from England and a lasting friendship 
was formed. One of the guests wrote the next day: "Is Mr. Wash- 
ington among your acquaintances? If not, I must recommend you 
to embrace the first opportunity to form his friendship. He is about 
twenty-three years of age, with a countenance both mild and pleas- 
ant, promising both wit and judgment. He isof a comely and dignified 
demeanor, and at the same time displays much self-reliance and 
•decision. He strikes me as being a young man of an extraordinary 
and exalted chai*acter, and is destined, lam of opinion, to make no in- 
considerable figure in our country." 1 

After that dinner party, Washington rendered valuable assistance to 
Braddock. As long as the waters of the Monongahela flow, the inhab- 
itants on its banks will always consider the ninth of July, 1755, as a 
black day. By the advice of Washington the advance of the British 
forces, with wagons and artillery, had been hurried on, so as to surprise 
and capture Fort Duquesne. The troops of Gage and St. Clair led 
the way. After noon they halted, suspecting no evil, in a valley, 
when the crack of musketry from wooded hills, followed by the war- 
whoop of savages, heard for the first time by the soldiers just arrived 
in America, told that the enemy was in ambush. The concealed party 
consisted of seventy-two regular French, one hundred and forty-five 



1. Peyton's "Reminiscences." 



8 

Canadians, and six hundred and thirty-seven Indians. De Beaujeu, 
the leader of the whites, had served in the valley of the Wisconsin 
river, was dressed as an Indian chief, and was soon killed. He who 
planned the surprise and led the Indians was De Langlade, whose fam- 
ily lived west of Lake Michigan. 1 

No troops, under the circumstances, could have done better than 
the British. Their artillery could not be elevated to work effectively, 
and could only make a noise. The unseen foe and unearthly yell 
was confusing, and Braddock, to inspire confidence, attended by 
Washington, rode to the front and received a mortal wound. Gov. 
Sharpe of Maryland mentions that the firing on the advance com- 
menced about one o'clock in the afternoon, and under date of Sept. 
15, 1755, wrote: "Gen. Braddock, thro' the impatience of the young 
people about him, as 'tis said, hurried on too fast." " Had the 
general used less dispatch in marching to Duquesne's the result 
might have been different." Mortification at the defeat by a small 
body of French led to much harsh criticism, but it was impossible 
for troops guarding artillery and a wagon train to dodge behind trees 
filled with savages, and they stuck to their guns as long as they 
could. Washington conducted the retreat, and in a few days Brad- 
dock expired; and the chaplain having been wounded, he read the 
burial service over the remains of one he had learned to respect for 
his bravery. 

After the French war, having been married to a most amiable and 
domestic woman, he lived for several years in comparative retire- 
ment, occupied with the duties and recreations of a country gentle- 
man. The closing of the port of Boston by an act of parliament 
again awakened his interest in public affairs, and he did not hesitate 
to approve of a congress of the colonies for the purpose of remonstrance. 



1. Charles de Langlade was born in 1729, and on Aug. 12, 1751, was married at, Mackinaw to 
Charlotte Bourassa. 

Gen. Burgoyne, in State of the Expedition for Canada, mentioned him as "the very man who, with 
these tribes, projected and executed Braddock's defeat." 

Anburey, an officer under Burgoyne, writes in Journey in the Interior of North America, that M. 
de Langlade "is the person who, at the head of the tribes which he now commands, planned and 
executed the defeat of Gen. Braddock." 

Langlade died in 1800 and his grave may be seen in the old cemetery of Green Bay, Wis. His 
nephew, Gautier de Verville, was with him in the attack upon Braddock, and his daughter married 
Harry Monro Fisher, at Prairie du Chien. Fisher's mother was the wild and reckless daughter of 
Harry Monro, chaplain of a Highlander regiment during the French and English war. 



On his way as a delegate to that congress, which on the fifteenth of 
September, 1774, was to assemble in Philadelphia, he met at the Po- 
tomac river a Tory clergyman who had been the tutor of his stepson, 
who expressed regret that one so prudent should attend a meeting 
whose proceedings would lead to civil war. With unusual earnest- 
ness he replied that he would never be found advocating any meas- 
ures to pi'oduce blood-shedding. * 

He had not long sat in that congress before the debates indicated 
that there would be no peaceable adjustment. 

"When he returned it was not very long before he urged the form- 
ing of a military company in Fairfax county. In May, 1775, he was 
a delegate to the second Continental congress, and his colleagues now 
would talk of little else except the collision between the king's troops 
and the people of Concord and Lexington, Mass., which had occurred 
in April, and all felt that a crisis had arrived. But what could be 
done in their weakness? Who could organize the yeomanry so ready 
to bear arms? Where was the person of any military experience 
fit to lead ? Intuitively congress felt that one of their own body was 
the man, and on the sixteenth of June it was unanimously voted that 
George Washington should be the general of the Continental army. 
With great diffidence he accepted the command ; and, without going 
back to his home left the city and was escorted northward a short 
distance by the Philadelphia Light Horse, commanded by Capt. Abram 
Markoe, the grandfather of an old and respected citizen of St. Paul . 
In a few days he was established in camp at Cambridge, Mass., and 
by his method, energy and prudence inspired confidence. 



1. Boucher, in his Autobiography, writes: "I happened to be going across the Potomac with my 
wife and some other of our friends, exactly at the time that Gen. Washington was crossing it 
on his way to the northward. There had been a great meeting of the people and great doings 
in Alexandria on the occasion and everybody seemed to be on fire, either with rum or patriotism, 
or both. Some patriots in our boat huzzaed and gave three cheers to the general as he passed 
us, while Mr. Addison and myself contented ourselves with pulling off our hats. The general 
(then only colonel) beckoned us to stop, as we did, just to shake us by the hand, he said. 

" His behavior to me was, as it had always been, polite and respectful, and I shall forever remem- 
ber what passed in the few disturbed moments of conversation we then had. From his going on 
his present errand I foresaw and apprised him of much that has since happened; in particular 
that there would certainly be a civil war and that the -Americans would soon declare for inde- 
pendency. 

"With more earnestness than was usual with his great reserve, he scouted my apprehensions, ad- 
ding, and I believe with perfect sincerity, that if ever I heard of his joining in such measures I 
had his leave to set him down for everything wicked," 



10 

It has been said that he lacked dash. It was well he did. It was 
no time for dash. The troops were chiefly on short enlistments with 
inexperienced officers, while the enemy was a force of veterans sup- 
ported by a fleet. His generalship was shown in imprisoning the 
British in the cities which they occupied. 

Recently parliament has published some dispatches of Gen. Gage in 
September, 1775, to the English government, which show the situa- 
tion. He wi'ote: " No intention to march out from Boston to an at- 
tack, as it would be impossible, even if thc}^ had a victory, to make 
any use of it, having no apparatus to advance into the country." 

Three years later a secret dispatch was sent to Sir Henry Clinton : 
" If you should find it impracticable to bring Mi-. Washington to a 
general and decisive action, relinquish the idea of carrying on opera- 
tions against the rebels on land." 1 

Once only, contrary to the advice of a council of war, he insisted 
upon an immediate attack ; and when he found his troops falling 
back, throwing off his reserve, his eyes flashing with indignation, he 
rode to the front and checked what might have proved a disaster. 
La Fa}~ette, many years after this occurrence, wrote: "At Monmouth 
I commanded a division, and it may be supposed was pretty well oc- 
cupied ; still I took time, amid the roar and confusion of the conflict, 
to admire our beloved chief, who rode along the lines, mounted on a 
splendid charger, amid the shouts of soldiers, cheering them by his 
voice and example, and restoring the fortunes of the fight. I thought 
then, as now, that I never had beheld so superb a man." 

To this day no American patriot passes the substantial stone 
mansion which was Washington's headquarters 2 during the win- 
ter the army was encamped at Valley Forge, but sad thoughts 
arise. Here the commander must have recalled the Gethsemane, 
whei'e the Divine Teacher endured agony and the desertion of 
friends. At the very hour that the army had no beef and only 
twenty-five barrels of flour, politicians attempted to conduct the 



1. Vol. IX., Appendix, Part 3d, of Report to Parliament of Manuscript Historical Commission. 

2. This stone mansion has been purchased by the women of Pennsylvania, as a Memorial Hall. 
It was owned at this time by Isaac Potts. His brother Thomas was colonel of a battalion in 1776. 
Another brother, James, was a major. A third brothel was Jonathan, surgeon of Philadelphia 
Light Horse Company, and medical director in the army. His sister Elizabeth, while the troops 
were at Valley Forge, married Dr, Benjamin Duffield, a surgeon in charge of a military hospital. 



11 

war and remonstrated against bis going into winter quarters. In a 
communication to congress, with a touch of sarcasm, he wrote that 
his forces had not seen soap nor vinegar since the battle of Brandy- 
wine ; and added -that they had little occasion for soap, as few had 
more than one shirt, many a part of one, and some none at all." 
About one-third of the army were unfit for duty because they were 
barefoot. He regretted that congress should act as if the soldiers 
were "made of stocks and stones, and insensible to frost and snow," 
and assured them " that it was easier to draw a remonstrance in a 
comfortable room and by a good fire than to occupy a cold, bleak 
hill, and sleep under frost ami snow without clothes or blankets." In 
addition to distress for his soldiers he was called to endure another 
heart pang. Ambitious, conceited, and restless officers had gained the 
ear of prominent civilians. Conway, of Irish descent, wishing higher 
rank, was discontented; and, combining with others, a movement was 
begun to drive Washington from the command by circulating reports 
that he was too slow, and not fit to lead. When he discovered the 
cabal he was equal to the emergency, and wrote "that he did not solicit 
the command, but accepted it after much entreaty, with all that diffi- 
dence which a conscious want of ability and experience impart. There 
is not an officer in the service of the United States that would return to 
the sweets of domestic life with more heartfelt joy than I should, but 
I mean not to shrink in the cause." Soon after the intrigue was dis- 
covered Conway received a wound in a duel, supposed to be fatal, and 
"just able to hold a pen," wrote to Washington expressing sincere 
grief for what he had said, done, or written. 

There was another critical period during the war when he showed 
that he was the man for the place. 

After the treason of the money-loving Benedict Arnold, the British 
officers were deceived and made to believe that Washington could be 
bought with a price, and the army disintegrated by sowing seeds of 
discontent. In a letter to Lord George Germain toward the close of 
1780, it is mentioned that "Washington is certainly to be bought ; 
honors will do it; that Arnold had been received with open arms, and 
that there was a freedom as well as propriety in his conversation and 
behavior." 

Under the delusion that the army could be broken up, emissaries 
appeared among the private soldiers. Upon New Year's night of 



12 

1781, while the American camp was at Morristown, N. J., two 
regiments, chiefly composed of poor Irishmen, mutinied, and under 
their non-commissioned officers, marched out of camp. As the troops 
had not been paid for a year, and they needed food and clothing, the 
disaffection began to spread to other regiments. Washington was 
equal to the emergency, and by firmness and conciliatory measures 
checked the spread of the revolt. Vice Admiral Arbuthnot of the 
British navy wrote to England: 1 "A revolt happened in Mr. Wash- 
ington's camp on the first instant, and inspired us with hopes that the 
crisis of the rebellion was approaching. A resolution of congress rela- 
tive to the continuance of enlistments has occasioned universal disaf- 
fection. The Pennsylvania line flew to arms, and in the attempt to 
reduce them many, both officers and privates, were slain. Headed 
by a Sergt. Williams, formerly of Burgoyne's army, they withdrew 
from camp, and about 2,000 took post near Bordentown, in Jersey, 
on advantageous ground, defended by seven pieces of cannon. Their 
object was payment in hard money, with provision to retire to their 
respective homes. The moment the intelligence reached us, Sir 
Heniy Clinton and myself made every effort to improve the event to 
our advantage. Affairs remained in an unsettled state until the fif- 
teenth instant, when Mr. Washington, whatever difficulties at first op- 
posed, was admitted as a mediator, and they dispersed upon condi- 
tion of being paid with paper in proportion of seventy to one, with 
leave to return to their dwellings and a promise that congress would 
pass an act of oblivion and pardon for all offenses since the first of 
the month." 2 

While Washington was in camp at Morristown the captain of the 
guard at headquarters was of the same family as a late citizen of 
Minnesota, whose name has been given to Steele county. In a letter, 
which has been preserved, he describes the wife of the general, and 



1. Vol. IX., Appendix, Part 3d, of Report to Parliament of Manuscript Historical Commission. 

2. Bancroft, in History of the United States, Vol. V., edition of 1888, writes of this mutiny that 
two emissaries sent by Sir Henry Clinton with tempting offers " were]given up by the mutineers, ami 
after trial were hanged as spies. * * * * Troops of New Jersey, whose ranks, 
next to the Pennsylvania line, included the largest proportion of foreign born, showed signs of being 
influenced by the bad example, but Washington interposed. The twenty regiments of New England 
n the Continental service had equal reasons for discontent, but they were almost every one of them 
native American freeholders or their sons. A detachment of them, marching through deep snows 
and over mountainous roads, repressed the incipient revolt." 



13 

writes: "I am happy in the importance of my charge, as well as in 
the presence of the most amiable woman on earth." 1 

A final crisis occurred after hostilities ceased, and when the army 
was at Newburg, JS". Y., great dissatisfaction prevailed because con- 
gress had not made provision for the long-due pay of officers. Some 
one so far forgot himself as to suggest that the army should create a 
limited monarchy and make Washington its king. A little later an 
anonymous call for a meeting of officers was circulated, ending with 
this language: 'Appeal for justice to the fears of government, and 
suspect the man who would advise forbearance." 



1. Capt. John Steele, with the army at Morristown, N. J., wrote from headquarters, June 14, 
1780, the following letter to his brother William, the ancestor of the late Franklin Steele, who for 
years wasotieofthe most prominent citizens of Minnesota: 

"Dear Will: I have omitted several opportunities of writing, with a daily expectation of 
seeing you and my brother Jake, which I now cease to hope for, as we have taken the field for 
several days in consequence of a sudden and unexpected incursion of the enemy from Staten Is- 
land into Jersey, who have as usual committed the most cruel and wanton depredations, by burn- 
ing and destroying the houses and property of many peaceable and defenseless inhabitants; but 
the most striking instance of their barbarity was in taking the life of a most amiable lady, wife 
of Parson Caldwell, of Springfield, who left nine small children, the youngest eight months old' 
which sat on its mamma's lap a witness of the cruel murder, though insensible of its hiss ; nor did 
their barbarity end there, for after several skirmishes, in which it is thought we killed one hun- 
dred and fifty and a proportionable number wounded, together with several officers, they retired to 
Elizabethtown Point, where they remain fortifying, and possess themselves of part of the town ; and 
'tis said that two nights ago they made an indiscriminate sacrifice to their brutish appetites of all 
the in the place. * * * Yesterday a captain from the British army de- 
serted to us, the cause to me unknown, but he is beyond doubt a rascal; but it all con- 
spires to make infamous the once dreaded, though ignominious, arms of Britain. . 

"I at present enjoy myself incomparably well in the family of Mrs. Washington, whose guard 
I have had the honor to command since the absence of the general and the rest of the family, 
which is now six or seven days. I am happy in the importance of these charges, as well as in 
the presence of the most amiable woman on earth; whose character, should I attempt to describe, I 
could not do justice to, but will only say that I think it unexceptionable. 

" The first and second nights after I came it was expected that a body of the enemy's horse would 
pay us a visit, but I was well prepared to receive them, for I had not only a good detachment of 
well disciplined troops under my command, but four members of congress who became volunteers 
with their muskets, bayonets and ammunition. I assure you they discovered a greater share of 
spirit than you ever saw in that body, or perhaps will ever see as long as they exist. 

" I leave you to judge whether there is not considerable merit due their commander. I only wish 
I had a company of them to command for a campaign and if you would not see an alteration in 

the constitution of our army by next I would suffer to lose my ears and never command 

congressmen again. The rations they have consumed considerably overbalance all their service done 
as volunteers, for they have dined with me every day since, almost, and drank as much wine as they 
would earn in six months. 

"Make my best love to my dear sister Betsey, parents, brothers and sisters, as well as to all my 
good neighbors, but in a most particular manner to somebody I can't write to for fear of miscarriage. 

I am, Your affectionate brother, 

Jack Steele." 
" Headquarters, Morristown, June 14, 17a0. 



14 

"Washington knew he was the man pointed at, and with consum- 
mate tact issued an order referring to the anonymous paper, and call- 
ing a meeting of the higher officers for a certain day. At the time 
appointed the officers assembled, Gen. Gates in the chair. Washing- 
ton soon came, and holding a paper with a trembling hand, in a trem- 
ulous voice read an address, in which he conjured them to express 
" their detestation and horror of the man who wickedly attempts to 
.open the floodgates of civil discord." Before he concluded every- 
one who had given ear to evil suggestions was ashamed, and 
before they adjourned the officers thanked him for his timely words, 
and "rejected with disdain the proposition in the anonymous call." 

As soon as the pressure of war was removed a segregation began. 
Each year the public credit diminished. The American people ceased 
to be respected by the nations of the world. Washington, with deep 
regret, acknowledged the existing government ' as "limping, half- 
starved, moving upon crutches and tottering at every step." In a let- 
ter to a friend, he wrote, with emotion, it is an "awful crisis." 

When it was decided that there should be a convention in Phila- 
delphia on the fourteenth of May, 1787, to devise some method 
for the more perfect union of the states, he consented to be one of the 
delegates from Virginia. At that time the city founded by William 
Penn was the greatest in wealth and population in North America, and 
under the influence of the Society of Friends, its inhabitants were 
distinguished for quietness and general sobriety. On Sunday, toward 
evening, which was the day before the time designated, Washington 
reached the suburbs. The intelligence flew to the extreme corners of 
the city. The church bells forgot their Sunday decorum, and rang as 
on a marriage occasion. The inhabitants threw open the windows of 
the houses to extend congratulations, and the devout, as they retired 
to sleep, knelt, and prayed that Washington and his colleagues might 
devise some plan to perpetuate American liberty. There is no time 
to dwell on the proceedings of that convention. By a unanimous 
voice Washington was chosen as the presiding officer, and after care. 
ful and secret deliberations, on the seventeenth of September they 
presented to the people of the United States of America the result of 
their deliberations, a constitution which recognized a duplex govern- 
ment, a general government supreme in certain specified affairs, and 
state governments harmoniously working with it. Neither Wash- 



15 

ington nor his colleagues thought it a perfect document. They would 
have shrank from the utterances of Gladstone, that "it is the 
most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time, by the brain and 
purpose of man." It was a document that separated religion and 
civil government by requiring no religious test for office. Washing- 
ton, in a treaty made with the approval of the United States senate, 
declax'ed that "the government was not in any sense founded upon 
the Christian religion. 

Although he did not partake of the holy communion in the church 
of his fathers, 1 yet he was a firm believer in a superintending Provi- 
dence and the divine revelation contained in the Old and New Testa- 
ment writings. A majority of the framers of the constitution felt 
that the only true religion was Christianity, but with William Penn 
they were fully convinced that one-half of the trouble of the stormy 
period of Charles the First resulted from the clergy trying to shape 
the political policy of the state, or by the civil authorities attempting 
to prescribe a religion for men. They had noticed that religious 
ideas stamped upon the Spanish coin did not improve Spanish morals, 
and it was reverence for the highest interests of man that led them 



1. A letter from Dr. James Abercrombie, the assistant minister of the church he attended in 
Philadelphia, is conclusive on this point. It was written some years before his death, to a friend. 

"Sir: With respect to the inquiry you make, I can only state the following facts, that as pastor 
of the Episcopal church (an humble assistant to its rector the Rt. Rev. Dr. White), observing that on 
Sacrament Sundays Gen. Washington, immediately after the desk and pulpit services, went out with 
the greatest part of the congregation, always leaving Mrs. Washington with the communicants, she 
invariably being one, I considered it my duty, in a sermon on Public Worship; to state the unhappy 
tendency of example, particularly of those in elevated stations, who invariably turned their backs 
upon the celebration of the Lord's Supper. 

" I acknowledge the remark was intended for the president, and as such he received it. A few days 
after, in conversation with a senator of the United States, T believe, he told me that he had dined the 
day before with the president, who in the course of conversation at the table said that on the pre- 
ceding Sunday he had received a very just reproof from t lie pulpit, for always leaving the church 
before the administration of the Sacrament ; that he honored the preacher for integrity and candor ; 
that he never had considered the influence of his example; that he would never again give cause for 
the repetition of the reproof, and that as he had never been acommunicant, were he to become one 
then it would be imputed to an ostentatious display of religious zeal. Accordingly he afterwards 
never came on the morning of Sacrament Sunday, though at other times a constant attendant in the 
morning. 

"That Washington was a professing Christian is evident from his regular attendance in our church, 
but, sir, I can not consider any man a real Christian who uniformly disregards an ordinance so 
solemnly enjoined by the Divine Author of our holy religion. 

"This, sir, is all I think it proper to state on paper. In conversation more latitude may lie allowed, 
more light might perhaps be thrown upon it. I trust, sir, you will not intrude my name in print. 
I am, sir, Yours, James Abercrombie," 



16 

not to interfere with the conscientious scruples of an} r citizen. In 
this country, provided the civil law is observed and a public nuisance 
is not created, men have as* much liberty to worship "four-footed 
beasts and creeping things" as Jesus Christ. 1 The constitution of 
Minnesota in carrying out this principle of separating church and 
state, ordains that not one cent from the state treasury, and not one 
foot of public land shall be set apart for the teaching of any kind of 
religion in public institutions. 2 Bryce, in his recent work on the 
"American Commonwealth," mentions that it is "accepted as an axiom 
by all Americans that the civil power ought to be not only neutral 
and impartial as between different forms of faith, but ought to leave 
these matters entirely on one side, regarding them no more than it 
regards the literary or artistic pursuits of the citizens." 

After the convention ended its labors Washington returned to his 
country home, but when the constitution was adopted by a certain 
number of states, it was ordered that there should be a vote for 
electors on the first of January, 1789, and that those chosen on 
the first Wednesday in February should meet and elect a president, 
and that at New York, as a temporary seat of government, on the 
fourth day of March, the first session of congress under the new con- 
stitution should be held. When the electoral votes were counted all 
were for George Washington, and he could not decline to accept such 
an expression of confidence. 



1. Francis Wharton, in his work on," American Criminal Law," referring to certain cases he 
writes: " In most of them the courts throw out the declaration that Christianity is part of the com- 
mon law, yet they all of them rest on grounds independent of this general position ; for it is a com- 
mon nuisance, and punishable as such by indictment at common law, to disturb the religious wor- 
ship of others, or flagrantly or indecently insult their religious belief, no matter what be their creed. 
Thus it would be held indictable to wantonly disturb a congregation of Mormons or Jews or even 
Mohammedans." 

Sedgwick, in "Construction of Statutory and Constitutional Law,'' observes: "Blasphemy is an 
indictable offense at common law ; but no person is liable to be punished by the civil power, who re- 
fuses to embrace the doctrines or follow the precepts of Christianity. Our constitution extends the 
same protection to every form of religion and gives no preference to any." 

Judge Cooley, in " Constitutional Limitations," writes: "Christianity, therefore, is not a part of 
the law of the land, in the sense that would entitle courts to take notice of and base their judgments 
upon it, except so far as they should find that its precepts had been incorporated in and thus become 
a component part of the law. * * * It is not toleration which is established in our sys- 

tem, but religious equality." 

2. The constitution of Minnesota k reads, as to public moneys (Section 3, Article S) : "But in no 
case shall the moneys derived as aforesaid, or any portion thereof, or any public moneys or prop- 
erty, be appropriated or used for the support of schools wherein the distinctive doctrines, creeds, 
or tenets of any particular Christian or other religious sect are promulgated or taught." 



17 

Recognizing that it was another critical period he left home with 
sadness to launch and steer the new ship of state on its first voyage. 
It was his desire that there should be no display on his journey, but 
the people would not have it so. When he reached Trenton on the 
Delaware, in place of the foe which he had charged in person during 
the campaign of 1776, were gathered a great multitude of the wives 
and daughters of the town and surrounding country, and as he en- 
tered the place he was met by a company of maidens clothed in white, 
with wreaths on their heads, strewing the road with flowers and sing- 
ing an ode of welcome. The contrast between the past and present 
was so great that he was overwhelmed with emotion and never could 
forget the scene. A prominent lawyer there at that time had been 
a member of the 'Continental congress and also elected a delegate ot 
the constitutional convention, and his family was musical. 1 

One of his daughters became the mother of one of the venerable 
members of the Minnesota Commandery of the Loyal Legion, the col- 
onel of the Second Minnesota Regiment, now Gen. Horatio P. Van 
Cleve, and there is every probability that his mother was one of those 
who greeted the president on that occasion. A flotilla of boats fol- 
lowed the barge which conveyed him from Elizabeth, N. J., to JSew 
Yoi'k City, where the ships in the harbor were gay with colors, 
and he stepped ashore, amid the roar of artillery, the music of bands, 
and acclaim of thousands. The readers of Shakspeare must have re- 
called the words of the messenger in Coriolanus: 

' ' The dumb men throng to see him and the blind 
To hear him speak; matrons fling gloves 
Upon him as he passed, the commons made 
A shower, and thunder, with their caps and shouts." 

He had not been many days in New York before he discovered a 
spirit of extravagance and imitation which, if indulged in, would 
simply degrade the republic to a Little Britain or a Little France. 



1. William Churchill Houston was a native of South Carolina, a graduate of Princeton College. 
In 1771 was professor of mathematics and natural philosophy in that institution. As the British 
approached in November, 1776, he organized and commanded a company of troops, During 1779, 
1780 and 1781 he was a member of the Continental congress. In 1783 he began the practice of law 
at Trenton. In 1786 he attended the conference at Annapolis which suggested the constitutional 
convention, but was prevented taking his seat in said body by ill health. His daughter, Louisa 
Anna, married a physician of Princeton, N. J., the father of Gen. H. P. Van Cleve of Minneapo- 
lis, Minn. 



18 

He therefore gave notice to his attendants that while his household 
affairs shall not be meanly conducted, that everything which would 
suggest the display of foreign courts must be avoided. A party in 
congress was disposed to give him some high-sounding title, like "His 
Serene Highness." By the efforts of his friends it was at length set- 
tled that he was not even to be designated as " His Excellency," but 
simply "The President." 

Arrangements were made for his inauguration on the thirtieth 
of April, at a hall where a United States sub-treasury now is, and 
standing in an open balcony before the building, dressed in a cloth suit 
of American manufacture, the oath of office was administered by 
Chancellor Livingston; when stooping down with closed eyes he 
kissed the Bible, on a velvet cushion, held by the secretaiy of the sen- 
ate, and congress and the immense crowd responded "Long live 
George Washington, President of the United States." Truly could 
it have been said that day in the words of a modern poet: 1 

" The statesman- warrior, moderate, resolute, 
Our greatest, yet with least pretense, 
Rich in saving common sense, 
And as the greatest only are, 
In his simplicity, sublime. ' ' 

Called to serve a second term, the eight years of his administration 
were years of care and great responsibility. Those whose prejudices 
against Great Britain led them to denounce the treaty of Jay, in- 
fluenced the house of representatives to pass a resolution requesting 
him to send to them the papers relative thereto. With firmness and dig- 
nity he declined, and informed them that it was opposed to public pol- 
icy, and that they had no right to make such a demand ; that the con- 
stitution vested the power to make a treaty with the president, and 
when approved by the senate became a law, and that no assent there- 
to by the house of repi-esentatives was required. 

The friends of the French revolution were indignant because he 
maintained a strict neutrality, and the minister plenipotentiary of 
France was rebuked for his flagrant insult to the laws of the republic. 
As the last year of his administration drew to a close he thought 
with pleasure of the day when his face would be again turned to his 
quiet home, Mt. Vernon. 

1. Tennyson. 



19 

The twenty-second of February, 1797, was a memorable day in 
Philadelphia. The president's house was filled for hours by ad ink- 
ing citizens, and he was overcome by the manifestations of respect, 
and his wife was moved to tears. On Saturday, the fourth of March, 
John Adams, the new president, was inaugurated, and Washington 
attended as a private citizen. After the ceremony he walked to the 
residence of his successor, and was the first there to extend congratu- 
lations. A crowd gathered around the house, and when he came out 
escorted him to his own home with the wildest enthusiasm. It was 
bis wish to leave the city with his family without any demonstra- 
tion ; but the light horse troop which had escorted him in 1775 on 
his way to the camp at Cambridge, and in 1787 when he came to the 
constitutional convention, claimed the privilege of attending him, and 
it was impossible to refuse. 

The next year after his presidency the conduct of the directory 
of France was such that President Adams deemed it expedient to 
prepare for war, and, with the approval of the senate, appointed him 
"lieutenant general and commander-in-chief " of the army. Believ- 
ing that the country was endangered, he accepted the responsibility 
with the proviso that he should not take the field until there was 
an obvious necessity, and that he should receive no emolument until 
war expenses were incurred. Happily war was averted. 

He expired on the fourteenth of December, 1799, and the last year 
of his life was passed in the improvement of his mind and estate. 
Gen. Fitzhugh Lee, now governor of Virginia, in a recent address, 
snid that John Eandolph, of Roanoke, when a student, witnessed the 
inauguration of Washington as president, and then declared that 
"there was poison under the wing of the eagle," referring to slavery 
as a disturbing influence. 

Washington had carefully read Montesquieu's work, and believed 
with the French philosopher that "the very earth itself, which teems 
with profusion under the cultivating hand of the free-born laborei-, 
shrinks into barreness from the contaminating sweat of the slave," 
and he felt that the country was in danger as long as African servi- 
tude existed. 

Coke, a student of Oxford University and the first superintendent 
of Methodist missions in America, thus describes a visit to Washing- 
ton at Mt. Vernon: "He received us very politely, and was very 



20 

open to access. He is quite the plain country gentleman. After 
dinner we desired a private interview, and opened to him the grand 
business on which we came, presenting to him our petition for the 
emancipation of the negroes, and entreating his signature, if the emi- 
nence of his station did not render it inexpedient for him to sign any 
petitions. He informed us that he was of our sentiments, and had sig- 
nified his thoughts on the subject to most of the great men of the 
state; that he did not see it proper to sign the petition, but if the 
assembly took it into consideration he would signify his sentiments 
by a letter. He asked us to spend the evening and lodge at his house, 
but our engagements would not admit." 

To the last he was adapted for every emergency. He was never 
found trying to impress any one that he was a hero, a states- 
man, or a saint. He desired no halo painted around his head. 
At the time of his death Talleyrand was minister of foreign affairs in 
France, and in a manuscript recently discovered he has drawn this 
accurate pen portrait: " History offers few examples of such renown. 
Great from the outset of his career, patriotic before his country be- 
came a nation, despite the passions and political resentments that de- 
sired to check his career, his fame l-emained imperishable. His pub- 
lic actions, and unassuming grandeur in private life, were living ex- 
amples of courage, wisdom and usefulness." 

The contemplation of such a life has been of untold value to the 
American people. In the wilderness of Indiana a poor boy went to 
school in a rude log cabin, and one day borrowed from the teacher a 
memoir of Washington. As he read he was fascinated, and at length 
"by pulling fodder for three days" he became the owner of the book. 
When the legislatures of several states began to declare that the gen- 
eral government could not coerce their citizens, that poor boy, become 
a full man, Abraham Lincoln, was chosen president of the United 
States of America. In bidding farewell to his neighbors at Spring- 
field, 111., before entering upon his duties, be said: "A duty devolves 
upon me which is, perhaps, greater than that which has devolved 
upon any other man since the days of Washington. He never would 
have succeeded except for the aid of Divine Providence, upon which 
he at all times relied. I feel that I can not succeed without that aid> 
and I pray that I may receive that divine assistance." 



21 

Comrades of the Minnesota Commandery of the Loyal Legion ! 
)uring the administration of President Lincoln you were commis- 
ioned as officers of the army, which after fearful struggles saved the 
ation's life. From the day when the army of the Union after vie- 
)ry marched in front of the president's mansion in Washington, 
r here Lincoln's chair had been made vacant by an assassin's shot, 
ad from thence you hurried back to your farms, warehouses, 
..orkshops and professional offices, the era of sectionalism has ex- 
pired, and a new era of nationality has commenced. 

Thank God that it is no longer your duty to bear arms, but do not 
forget that one of the important objects of your association is to 
inculcate patriotism. Impress upon your children and children's 
children the horrors of civil war, but teach them all to say: "If I 
forget thee, O America! let my right hand forget her cunning. If I 
do not remember thee let my tongue cleave to the roof of my 
mouth." 



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